@@lummond now if only they could come up with some sort of wooden extension that would reach to the 12th fret but with space underneath for your hand. We could call it a "horn" maybe?
I've owned several Thunderbirds over the years, all nice but muddy. This HB seems to have a cleaner sound. If I ever see one, I'll give it a try. Good review, thanks for posting.
I really like that crispy clean tone, but I’m not a firebird fan. I’m more of a Jazz bass type of guy. I have the Harley Benton Enhanced MP-4EB Lake Blue and it’s not bad. I’m actually impressed for what it is at the price point I bought it for, but my main bass is the Ibanez SRMS800 in Deep Twilight. Love the way the Ibanez plays and looks, but I keep finding myself picking up the Harley Benton for that PJ bass type of tone. I would love to get a real Fender Jazz Bass one day.
I agree with this conclusion. I have it and like the sound of it but there are some things... First, it's huge (!) and you need a special gig bag for it. No standard ones will work, it's too long. And the neck dives! I added a second strap nut on the back of the neck close to the body and it got better but there are still some issues. I still have not found a guitar stand that works for it. I cannot reach all the tuners while standing up playing, they are too far away! After some hesitation (still not sure if I made the right choice), I decided to keep it because it looks cool and I can use it for recordings since I like the sound, but I only use it at home ...and maybe for upcoming videos.
Sounds cool soloed, but with that massive mid scoop I'm pretty sure it won't cut through in a rock band against distorted guitars. At least the serial mode adds some midrange...
Great review! Alrighty - so I bought one of these. And I think you nail it when you say each bass has it's own quality, and you emphasize that "this" (as in the bass you have) is good quality. Mine is a little poo poo. It sounds great, it plays great, it looks bada$$. The construction, however, not so much. It has terrible string buzz which i've tried adjusting but from the sound of the buzzing it's a fret issue. My bass has terrible fret sprout to where it seems like neck paint has cracked, and my blend knob isn't attached properly so it's loose in the cavity. Thomann has been pretty good in helping me address the issues and leading me to how to do small repairs, but at this point they're obviously not sending me a replacement. I'm hoping they can at least give me a percentage back. But like everyone who has a Harley Benton says: for the price, it's pretty rad. I've never played a $180 bass that sounds and feels as smooth (of course, shipping to the US is around $100). In fact, I had a Epiphone T-Bird and the Harley Benton blows it out of the water.
On the website the controls are listed as volume (with push pull feature), tone, tone. If I got this bass I'd swap out one of the tone controls for a pickup blend and replace the other with a stacked knob to still allow for two tone controls.
Will never forget watching John Entwhistle, playing a thousand miles an hour on a thunderbird bass, and hearing nothing but a muddy thumping. This sounds a lot better.
Looks pretty cool but as I have both an epiphone and a gibson thunderbird and love the growl of them I am not sure I will be getting one. Plus they put the headstock on upside down
I can't help but notice those 3 basses in the back at 2:55, they almost looks like 3 children photobombing in a curious way. Especially that samurai. 😂
1. I really like the 4 bar solo at 1:20 2. I like the "modern sound" of this bass (even if I'm an old guy). 3. I've never ever played a bass with the pickup selector (or pickup balance) not in the middle position. So this lack of pickup selector is not a big deal for me. 4. But I really like my comfort and I hate neck-heavy instruments (I bought an aluminium neck Kramer many years ago because it looked cool, but gave it away soon thereafter). This is a deal-breaker for me. (Same for Explorers and Flying-Vs.).
A decent review, many thanks as I've seen a few that ran this bass down because, well just because they can. I'm an old (66) ex bass player and I would have killed to have one because the Gibbo was out of my price range. It sounds pretty good but I'm not a fan of Matt colours being brutally honest. Neck dive is simple to cure, I had a cheap Firebird copy for when I played guitar, I just moved the strap button
I guess these affordable ones are nearly all good locking and they have a good sound. So a good option for those who have a small budget. But the qustions is how are these Basses after a long time of playing vs an expensive one? For that point there is nothing to find in the I-Net :-(
I own one , its cool you know? Pretty fun to play but I'm not used to long scales basses lol. It neck dives and I highly recommend a Good comfy strap.. otherwise you'll have to be sitting all the time to play it
"He who wants to be pretty must suffer." "If you buy through this link we get a kickback which is nice because it allows me to buy another Lambo one day." These were genuinely funny. I was not aware that Germans made jokes. I learned something new today, thank you.
Nice, Harley Benton are making some neat bass's for what you pay...Nice matt finish, shame about the inevitable neck dive but those EMG's are good, I'm taking it that fretboard is not ebony but a stained alternative ? Luv the neck,,.. good review, as much as i luv a T-bird those pickups are only good for rock where this will play most genres, even if you would look a bit odd playing jazz on it but it would sound good....
I've not had the chance to try 1 but frankly I love how these Harley Bentons sound for their price. Honestly I personally would buy these over a fender
The are only three thunderbird-like basses that work. Old gibson for the sound and mojo or the lakland and dingwall ones for the modern tone and playability
I'm weird so i like the sound of a normal thunderbird i like the more meaty midrange tone and perhaps this fascination with overly scooped thin sounding bass is indicative of the genres loss in balls. No they aren't basses to solo on if you get one for that you're missing the point and it helps to use fresh steel roundwound strings on them.
I really love t-birds but I am poor to get one (I like the gothic one). Will this play nicely with lighter strings? Lets say slinkies cyan ones? And was the action high when you got it?
Wow. Thats a nice looking bass and it sounds like it’s own thing. Cool. Love the pretty/suffering quote. So true. Bass is a new take on an old concept so purists may not like it.
Do you know the dimensions of the pickups and pickup routing? If I buy one I'll probably replace the pickups with Lollar TB pickups, but they are sized like regular vintage TB pickups so I don't know if they'll fit.
What's the asymmetrical blue bass in the background? I've seen one of those in Guitar Center before and really enjoyed playing it, but can't remember what it is.
I love your videos but i can't put the translate feature , i dont know why UA-cam try to translate from german lenguaje to spanish and its absurd text.
I like it, but I feel like it's more of a... stage bass? Like I couldn't see myself sitting down and using it for recording or practice. But in front of a high energy dive bar crowd doing rock covers? For sure.
There have been a couple of HB basses which were impressive, especially for the price. This isn't one of them. I'm thinking about their Enhanced 4 and 5 string models in particular.
It sounds way worse than a Epi T Bird, way too scooped and brittle. Also Gregor has thousands of dollars worth of primo recording gear, and Rene is a beast. This is probably the best possible representation of this bass.
It looks real cool, but that's about it. Not even a bass wizard like Rene can make this thing sound good, way too scooped and brittle. Was expecting some Thunderbird roar and was disappointed.
Harley Bentons are beautiful. Then you need new electronics and luthier. End to end there is good bass. But not very cheap. But still its price is not high. I have one - jazz bass with Merlin pickups.
If it doesn't sound like a T-Bird, I don't get the point of this bass. It's the same with the ESP-Phoenix. I'd rather buy an Epiphone Vintage Pro, which actually sounds like an original 1963 T-Bird (or very close to it) and even has the neck-through construction.
Sieht gut aus in Klang ist gut, aber kein Thunderbird Sound. Der klingt im der Mittelstellung leicht nach Stingray. Was für gegen Thunderbirds spricht, ich hasse Kopflastigkeit.
Yes those things are ghastly, changing strings on my thunderbird takes forever cos i'm always losing the saddles, who ever thought that was a good design aught to have been fired the 2 point system of the original ones was way better.
The Thunderbird is Not a 'set neck' ... it is Neck-Through construction, hence it is significantly different and probably have better sustain and probably other properties that differ from this purely cosmetic copy ... Maybe you were not prepared to compare this knock-off with the real-thing ???
Ah yes, neck dive. My favourite feature.
Have you tried a wide, thick strap? Because it doesn't make a damn but of difference
Strap pin needs to be at the neck heel (which has its own problems) like on a D Roc to avoid the chance of neck dive.
@@57precision Just put the strap button on the back of the neck behind the 12th fret. Who plays past there anyway?
@@lummond now if only they could come up with some sort of wooden extension that would reach to the 12th fret but with space underneath for your hand. We could call it a "horn" maybe?
@@57precision We can even paint it black so on stage the bass can still look like it has a stupid gimmicky shape!
I've never been a huge fan of reverse head stocks, but overall I think that is an absolutely stunning looking instrument!
We also have a saying "Chi bello vuol sembrare un po' deve soffrire" that means "Who wants to look pretty must suffer a little" in Italian.
A thunderbird where you can actually fret the high frets! Noice
Yes but that means the first fret is another half a foot away
@@lummond no, it's just about shape of body
Blasphemy!
@@ОлександрРаєв he is right tho. Look at how far the bridge is.
Captain Ahab plays a mean bass.
A man of culture, I see. *tips hat*
In German we have a say ..."Szhtzshtwatzlschsualava" we love you Greg 👊
“At least... today” *Dingwall* lol sounds like a really good bass. Of course Rene makes them all sound great
I am watching all these videos just to hear Gregor‘s wonderful accent 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪
so many epiphone videos have discouraged me and rn the harley benton is working for me
I've owned several Thunderbirds over the years, all nice but muddy. This HB seems to have a cleaner sound. If I ever see one, I'll give it a try. Good review, thanks for posting.
Rene...awesome! Been loving the skits on your channel! Nice to see you back here as well
I really like that crispy clean tone, but I’m not a firebird fan. I’m more of a Jazz bass type of guy. I have the Harley Benton Enhanced MP-4EB Lake Blue and it’s not bad. I’m actually impressed for what it is at the price point I bought it for, but my main bass is the Ibanez SRMS800 in Deep Twilight. Love the way the Ibanez plays and looks, but I keep finding myself picking up the Harley Benton for that PJ bass type of tone. I would love to get a real Fender Jazz Bass one day.
I agree with this conclusion. I have it and like the sound of it but there are some things... First, it's huge (!) and you need a special gig bag for it. No standard ones will work, it's too long. And the neck dives! I added a second strap nut on the back of the neck close to the body and it got better but there are still some issues. I still have not found a guitar stand that works for it. I cannot reach all the tuners while standing up playing, they are too far away! After some hesitation (still not sure if I made the right choice), I decided to keep it because it looks cool and I can use it for recordings since I like the sound, but I only use it at home ...and maybe for upcoming videos.
That distorted tone... Whoa! Love it
Sounds cool soloed, but with that massive mid scoop I'm pretty sure it won't cut through in a rock band against distorted guitars.
At least the serial mode adds some midrange...
Great review! Alrighty - so I bought one of these. And I think you nail it when you say each bass has it's own quality, and you emphasize that "this" (as in the bass you have) is good quality. Mine is a little poo poo. It sounds great, it plays great, it looks bada$$. The construction, however, not so much. It has terrible string buzz which i've tried adjusting but from the sound of the buzzing it's a fret issue. My bass has terrible fret sprout to where it seems like neck paint has cracked, and my blend knob isn't attached properly so it's loose in the cavity. Thomann has been pretty good in helping me address the issues and leading me to how to do small repairs, but at this point they're obviously not sending me a replacement. I'm hoping they can at least give me a percentage back. But like everyone who has a Harley Benton says: for the price, it's pretty rad. I've never played a $180 bass that sounds and feels as smooth (of course, shipping to the US is around $100). In fact, I had a Epiphone T-Bird and the Harley Benton blows it out of the water.
I would like to hear more from the guys playing the basses
On the website the controls are listed as volume (with push pull feature), tone, tone. If I got this bass I'd swap out one of the tone controls for a pickup blend and replace the other with a stacked knob to still allow for two tone controls.
It’s an active EQ, not what we’d traditionally call tone controls
Will never forget watching John Entwhistle, playing a thousand miles an hour on a thunderbird bass, and hearing nothing but a muddy thumping. This sounds a lot better.
I love the look of a thunderbird but I like the more modern sound of this one!! Very surprised!!
Looks pretty cool but as I have both an epiphone and a gibson thunderbird and love the growl of them I am not sure I will be getting one. Plus they put the headstock on upside down
It sounds like pulling the volume knob switches the pickups from parallel to series. I love that feature in a bass.
I would want to install a pickup selector of some kind if I got one though.
According to the HB website the push/pull is for switching from Active to Passive.
It's not for me, but I'm glad it exists.
I was thinking of getting this one, purely because of the price which makes it a great beginner bass. Also it's cool as hell 😃
I can't help but notice those 3 basses in the back at 2:55, they almost looks like 3 children photobombing in a curious way. Especially that samurai. 😂
1. I really like the 4 bar solo at 1:20
2. I like the "modern sound" of this bass (even if I'm an old guy).
3. I've never ever played a bass with the pickup selector (or pickup balance) not in the middle position. So this lack of pickup selector is not a big deal for me.
4. But I really like my comfort and I hate neck-heavy instruments (I bought an aluminium neck Kramer many years ago because it looked cool, but gave it away soon thereafter). This is a deal-breaker for me. (Same for Explorers and Flying-Vs.).
I thought I might like the Kramer metal neck but it felt cold
A decent review, many thanks as I've seen a few that ran this bass down because, well just because they can. I'm an old (66) ex bass player and I would have killed to have one because the Gibbo was out of my price range. It sounds pretty good but I'm not a fan of Matt colours being brutally honest. Neck dive is simple to cure, I had a cheap Firebird copy for when I played guitar, I just moved the strap button
I guess these affordable ones are nearly all good locking and they have a good sound. So a good option for those who have a small budget. But the qustions is how are these Basses after a long time of playing vs an expensive one? For that point there is nothing to find in the I-Net :-(
I own one , its cool you know? Pretty fun to play but I'm not used to long scales basses lol. It neck dives and I highly recommend a Good comfy strap.. otherwise you'll have to be sitting all the time to play it
Harley Benton needs to make their own Dingwall copy.
"He who wants to be pretty must suffer."
"If you buy through this link we get a kickback which is nice because it allows me to buy another Lambo one day."
These were genuinely funny.
I was not aware that Germans made jokes. I learned something new today, thank you.
this is a great bass channel! Tasty playing from experienced guys. Subbed!
Danke fürs Video ✊🏻
The Jhon Enwistle Bass 😬 i love it. I would like to use it for B std tuning and play some Crowbar riffs
What I'm doing! B standard and fuzz!!!
@@gri7 With harley benton tb or original tb? If hb, is it satisfying?
this guy is a world-class presenter. A seriously funny German!
Awesome bass and awesome vid as always
Beautiful
Nice, Harley Benton are making some neat bass's for what you pay...Nice matt finish, shame about the inevitable neck dive but those EMG's are good, I'm taking it that fretboard is not ebony but a stained alternative ? Luv the neck,,.. good review, as much as i luv a T-bird those pickups are only good for rock where this will play most genres, even if you would look a bit odd playing jazz on it but it would sound good....
Gregor… didn't seem ergonomic enough. Ah! I forgot...it's a kind of Thunderbird!
I've not had the chance to try 1 but frankly I love how these Harley Bentons sound for their price. Honestly I personally would buy these over a fender
Sounded fine. Like the shape but never been too keen on Thunderbirds ...but this one is ok.
The push/pull on that knob is a volume control.
The are only three thunderbird-like basses that work. Old gibson for the sound and mojo or the lakland and dingwall ones for the modern tone and playability
I'm weird so i like the sound of a normal thunderbird i like the more meaty midrange tone and perhaps this fascination with overly scooped thin sounding bass is indicative of the genres loss in balls.
No they aren't basses to solo on if you get one for that you're missing the point and it helps to use fresh steel roundwound strings on them.
Looks pretty cool
I really love t-birds but I am poor to get one (I like the gothic one).
Will this play nicely with lighter strings? Lets say slinkies cyan ones? And was the action high when you got it?
Der Schreibtisch ist schick !
mein ganzer Stolz
A narrow jazz width neck made of mohogany? Schedule your broken headstock repair now ?
Can I just ask, did this come with any pickup issues?
1:15 just bought that exact bass and feel personally attacked
The lack of a blend option between both pickups is a mental decision. What
There are a lot of problems with this one
I knew, every UA-camr has at least one Lambo.
これ、カッコいいなぁ。
*_"Beauty knows no pain!_* 😁
Wow. Thats a nice looking bass and it sounds like it’s own thing. Cool. Love the pretty/suffering quote. So true. Bass is a new take on an old concept so purists may not like it.
Do you know the dimensions of the pickups and pickup routing? If I buy one I'll probably replace the pickups with Lollar TB pickups, but they are sized like regular vintage TB pickups so I don't know if they'll fit.
Leave it to harley benton to make their T bird copy sound modern and active and their stingray copy dull and passive
you got a point there 🤔😆
Can u test Solar bass with 4 strings?
What's the asymmetrical blue bass in the background? I've seen one of those in Guitar Center before and really enjoyed playing it, but can't remember what it is.
that’s a Yamaha SBV-500
so based on the electronics its not copying the thunderbird, it's copying the dingwall that copies the thunderbird
Any chance of a video on that Yamaha SBV-500 you got chilling in the back there? :)
one day
I love your videos but i can't put the translate feature , i dont know why UA-cam try to translate from german lenguaje to spanish and its absurd text.
I like it, but I feel like it's more of a... stage bass? Like I couldn't see myself sitting down and using it for recording or practice. But in front of a high energy dive bar crowd doing rock covers? For sure.
I really like the look and sound of this thing but I think all kinds of T-Birds should hang really low and that's totally not my thing.
Need a 5 string version
Looks like the Gibson Rd bass more than a thunderbird.
2:55....okay...the dream is over.
There have been a couple of HB basses which were impressive, especially for the price.
This isn't one of them.
I'm thinking about their Enhanced 4 and 5 string models in particular.
Ok why it sounds better than my Epiphone TBird? I'm upset 😂😂
It sounds way worse than a Epi T Bird, way too scooped and brittle. Also Gregor has thousands of dollars worth of primo recording gear, and Rene is a beast. This is probably the best possible representation of this bass.
It looks real cool, but that's about it. Not even a bass wizard like Rene can make this thing sound good, way too scooped and brittle. Was expecting some Thunderbird roar and was disappointed.
Harley Bentons are beautiful. Then you need new electronics and luthier. End to end there is good bass. But not very cheap. But still its price is not high. I have one - jazz bass with Merlin pickups.
Nihilists Dude !
In series, i think it sounds bit like a Stingray
You‘re right. I‘ m astonished. I‘m a Stingray player. But I don‘ t like head heavy weight.
What is that blue bass in the background? It looks so cool
Looks like a cheap Sandberg fourty eight or esp Phoenix
If it doesn't sound like a T-Bird, I don't get the point of this bass. It's the same with the ESP-Phoenix. I'd rather buy an Epiphone Vintage Pro, which actually sounds like an original 1963 T-Bird (or very close to it) and even has the neck-through construction.
The point is it looks cool and it’s super cheap. Obviously for $170 it’s not going to sound like a real Thunderbird
I hate mine so much:)
I'm only watching to support you buy a new Lambo
;)
I didn't understand the name of the bass...
There’s a video description
Sieht gut aus in Klang ist gut, aber kein Thunderbird Sound. Der klingt im der Mittelstellung leicht nach Stingray.
Was für gegen Thunderbirds spricht, ich hasse Kopflastigkeit.
I see they kept the horrible 3 point bridge. 🤦🏻♂️
Yes those things are ghastly, changing strings on my thunderbird takes forever cos i'm always losing the saddles, who ever thought that was a good design aught to have been fired the 2 point system of the original ones was way better.
@@webz3589 I think either Hipshot or Babicz makes a good replacement/upgrade bridge for the 3 point bridge. Assuming the bolt pattern is the same.
I have considered babicz
is it has neck dive like the originals from gibson??? kkkkkkkkkkkk
Is Harely Benton like the chinese of bass guitars?
Not sure what you’re trying to say here
what he meant is,"IS HARLEY BENTON LIKE THE CHINESE OF BASS GUITARS?" You know, chur shing se hao harlee banton chowmein li bass gitar nihao?
Seems real odd not to have individual pickup selection.
Yes, very odd and would be the first thing I'd change!
Ne
Der klingt noch ne Deutsch genug vom Akzent her xD
Ich habe den Epiphone, es ist nur schade das sie alle kopflastig sind
Not blend? Nah, I'll pass.
Бас дрянь это вкусовщина
Thic neck. I fucking hated it.
Yo much mids
it aint pretty and it's neck heavy= fail.
The Thunderbird is Not a 'set neck' ... it is Neck-Through construction, hence it is significantly different and probably have better sustain and probably other properties that differ from this purely cosmetic copy ... Maybe you were not prepared to compare this knock-off with the real-thing ???
I think you missed some parts of the video.
Does not rock.
Im no harley benton fan but for 200 Euro!!! This bass rock the world for this price…..